e-mail addresses, please!!!

Welcome back after the holidays.

I hope everyone has had a great time and has taken a good rest after the difficult time you had in June. Now most of you are entering a new phase in your lives and may not be interested in what is going on at the TTC, but still, for the few who are, I have an important message:

During the holidays my computer, or actually its hard disc, suffered a critical failure and all the system data are gone, including my e-mail address book. If there is anyone willing to keep in touch with me, please send a message, because I have no other way to contact you. Also, please pass on this request to other students you keep in touch with.

Good luck in the re-sits to those who need to take them, and all the best to everyone, whatever you are up to :)

The End

Here we are, at the end of the course and of your studies in KJO. As the last VOLUNTARY assignment please write your reflections on the years spent in college. Say what you learned, what you will remember, and also what you think you are going to do in your life. I would like to know what becomes of you. :)
This blog will be here for some time - as long as there are people who want to continue writing. You may use it to keep in touch.
Thank you, class 2006, for the whole year of weekly IT classes, where we all discovered new things. I hope that you will use them in your future careers, no matter what they are.

GOOD LUCK!

FILMS

Following suggestions from some of the bloggers (thanks!), I would like to introduce another task:

The best film ever! Or top 10, as Karmen has done. Just think about all the many films you have seen and make a selection. Try to justify at least one of the choices, so that we know what is important for you in a movie. What makes it unique, worth coming back to, meaningful? You can place links to sites about those films, to make things easier for those who are not familiar with them. Perhaps you will make people so interested that they would like to see some of them?

I myself am not able to make any sort of ranking list. But after some thinking I can share a few titles with you. I do realize, though, that they are far away from your choices:

• Kieslowski's Red, Blue and The Double Life of Veronique - in this sequence
  There is something in these films that I cannot resist - I guess it is what we call the metaphysical. I like coming back to them. White does not work like this for me.
• Wajda's Korczak - Janusz Korczak is my guru
• Woody Allen's Zelig - playing with the very idea of moviemaking
• S. Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut - a bit weird, but irresistible - cast!
• R. Polanski's Rosemary's Baby - I have seen it once, will never see it again, but will never forget it, too. Filmed at Dakota Apartments in NY. A doomed place.
• N. Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof - every scene is a jewel
• M. Scorsese's The Age of Innocence - purely beautiful though very sad
• J. Campion's The Portrait of a Lady - I loved the book and the film did not disappoint me, which is rare (music by W. Kilar)
• R. Attenborough's Shadowlands - about C.S. Lewis
  J. Ivory's Howards End (both starring Anthony Hopkins, the acting genious)
  No, I haven't seen The Silence of the Lambs, and never will. I'm scared when I know it's on television, even if my TV set is off ;)

I don't include romantic comedies because they come and go, seldom making any stronger impression (though films like Notting Hill or Four Weddings and a Funeral are perhaps worth mentioning). A separate category for me is Jane Austen adaptations, which I can watch without end, the new Pride and Prejudice being at the top of the list ;)

Values

I don't believe in preaching - telling people what is right and what is wrong. It seldom works. You should teach values by living them. But sometimes things need to be made explicit.

So here you go - this is the way I try to live, although at times I fail:

For me the most important principle in life is: love your fellows -
I mean the sort of love which is included in the Christian tradition. And love does not always mean being nice. Often it requires being harsh and critical - ask your parents :) If you love someone, you want them to be good. What is more, it is easy to love those who love you, but to love those who hurt you or do not share your beliefs and ideals is a real challenge. I try to follow another Christian principle here: "hate the sin but love the sinner." From this core idea all others derive: tolerance - but not for those who do harm to others, respect for the individual (big or small), and, yes, forgiveness. I cannot live in conflict. Conflict kills me. It takes away all my power, all my ideas and motivation. So I do my best to forgive. But to forgive is not to forget. Not so easy.

Would you like to say in your blogs what you believe in?

Freedom of speech

A few days (or weeks?) ago I wrote a comment on somebody's blog about the growing amount of hatered in our public life. And that the situation will change for the better as soon as your generation takes over. Now I think this was too rosy a view.
As for freedom of speech - the principle in defence of which people spent years in prison - please do not confuse it with flaming. This is something I won't allow in my own blog. So I've decided to remove comments to my previous post. I was hoping people would do it themselves during the day, but nobody did. You may accuse me of censorship, but you have your own blogs to express your opinions.
What is more, I don't think I'm interested in comments for this post, so there will be none.

For those innocent readers who do not have a faintest idea what I'm talking about - my apologies. Believe me - you don't want to know.

Teaching practice

I know you are VERY busy these days, finishing your diploma projects and getting ready for final tests and exams. That is why I've been hesitating about a new blog task, but for those of you who can still find a little time here it is:

Most of you have already finished your teaching practice or are just at the end of it. It would be very interesting to read your impressions: what you had expected and feared, what you found out about teaching, about Polish schools, and... about yourselves. Has the experience changed your attitude to YOUR becoming a teacher? Which school level suits you best? Where would you feel least comfortable?
To encourage you, I'll write a few words about my own teaching practice from many years ago. The very fact that I remember anything of it speaks for itself.

• I took my TP in LO II - where else?? The teacher who supervised me was the one who taught me there as well. I came there just to do my duty - I had never thought of myself as a teacher. My mentor, though, took things very seriously: at the observation stage he explained why he did sth, how he approached problems that appeared etc. (We did not have anyone to visit our lessons from IFA.)
  Then the day came when I was to stand in front of the class of matura candidates and teach them. Gosh, how nervous I was! They were pretty advanced, (an intensive program) and I thought they could ask me awkward questions or play tricks. But they were really friendly and everything went more or less OK - not that my supervisor did not tell me what to change or improve. I still remember a lot of his advice and follow it on day-to-day basis.
  After a few weeks my teaching practice was over and my teacher said I HAD TO come to teach in our school after I graduated! Things turned out a bit different, but I was very proud! It was then that I started thinking of teaching as my future job. Actually, I realized that I liked it. And so... here I am.

The day after

That was quite an experience - I only wish EVERYBODY had been there. Agnieszka's speech was absolutely fantastic - we could all feel she meant every single word of it. Yes, I think 2006 graduates will be remembered in a special way. Creative, open-minded, friendly people and loyal friends. Your mutual relations is what I envy you most. Most of my fellow students were so uninteresting... The only friend I had at the time left Poland for the US right after graduation, so we see each other rarely. My real good time was high school - II LO in Poznań. I still love it, and keep in touch with most of my classmates.

Anyway, great event! In case you don't know, there is
a photo coverage of it on Marta F.'s blog (BIG THANKS to Marta and her "other half") - don't miss it!

AgatkaP

You can see my picture here. I must have been five or six at the time. The picture was taken by my Dad, who was, and still is, my real pal. I guess you can see that from the way I'm looking at him here.

Childhood

While you're still at home you can start working on the next blog assignment: in your family archives please find a photograph of yourself when you were a child. Not a baby, but a young person developing some sort of personality. The task was inspired by Marta F., who posted a fantastic picure of herself on her blog. :)

She also offered help to those who have problems scanning. (Thanks!) Remember, too, that some copy shops and internet cafes offer that sort of service. I can also make a few scans, if you have no other way.

Apart from posting the picture, please make a short comment on it or your childhood in general.

Graduation

In a week's time we're going to have a farewell celebration for you - 3rd year students. Some people feel it is just another official thing, not worth the bother (and the money). For many, it is an important event the memories of which will be coming back after years. It is also very important for us, your teachers, who got to know you well over the three years and want to wish you all the best for the years to come.

Farewells are always difficult for me, yet this year will be even worse. I feel that through the blog and all the things we've been doing together we have developed a special kind of relation. That is why the graduation ceremony will be so important for me and so tough at the same time. When you say goodbye to your fist group of learners you will understand.

Those of you who have chosen not to be there will also be included in our good wishes. Some students don't want to celebrate graduation before the exams are over. I can understand that. But your family and friends, and we - your teachers, would be happy to see you all standing there, in the university hall, looking hopefully into the future.

Presentation

A new week, and new ideas.

You seemed very tired with working on corpora, so now something more fun-oriented. Whether it's gonna be fun or not depends on your ideas and what you bring with you. Our next field of development is PRESENTATION SOFTWARE. What Microsoft Office calls PowerPoint and OpenOffice has as Impress. If you want to enjoy the class and give a really personal touch to your presentation, bring with you files you would like to include. The topic is open - it may be your favorite artist, writer, actress, book, film, musician or band. It may be YOU yourself, if you like. Or your class from high school. Or your family. Anything that is not offensive to anyone. So bring pictures, stories, interesting facts, anything that relates to your topic. I hope you can really IMPRESS everybody with your presentation. ;)

After Easter

Coming back to normal - it's a bit difficult, isn't it?

I would like to help people see the good side of life, enjoy every day rather than curse our daily routine. This is the intention behind the next task:

• Please find something that has made you see things in the positive: an item of news from Poland - local or national - which brings you hope, or something you witnessed or perhaps did. Then give an account of it on your blog and say why you have chosen it.

Task

I hear some people would find it easier to write if they were given a task. I did plan tasks for your blogs (that's what ELT blogs are all about), so here you are:

• I would like to see a post on each and every blog of yours about the first book you read in English. What it was, why you read it, how you felt about reading in English and what it gave you as a language learner. I mean "real" book, not readers or magzines: a novel, let's say.

Mine was Steinbeck's East of Eden, and that was right after my matura, like 100 years ago. I wanted to have had that experience before entering my English philology studies. I went to Zakopane with my best friend (still!), and we walked the mountains during the day and spent quiet evenings relaxing after the turmoils of all the matura and entrance exams. And so I read it - from cover to cover. I was so absolutely proud of myself! I felt it was the tallest mountain I climbed that summer. The book was not probably the best choice for the start, but I just picked it off my Grandfather's shelf and followed His advice. Not that it was bad literature - I loved it. But it was not very easy to read and at some points a bit depressing.

Anyway, that's my story, and now I want to read yours :)

Some thoughts

Ok, so the test was tough. Error correction? Well, a teacher who cannot see errors will be of little use to his/her students. This is the reason we have the task in the exam and in our grammar tests. You need to learn the skill, and that's it. As you could see, I omit mistakes too (e.g. "the Untied States" instead of "the United States" :) ) , and some of you spotted them immediately. But the ones which were intended for correction were often omitted.
Now, about your blogs: some of them are gaining momentum, others are still at the initial stage and nothing seems to be happening there. If you have forgotten your password, which I know happens, you can start again and I will put the new one on the list instead of the old one. Also, if you want to change the title of your blog, and the way it shows on our list, it is very easy to do: after you log in to Blogger, go to Settings (Basic) and change your title (and save changes!). The change will be automatically made in our links, too. Remember that your blogs have been published on the Internet for anyone to read. Some of them (just a few) are nothing to be proud of.

To end on the positive note, listen to a song from one of my favorite singers (in RealPlayer).

I love the way her English sounds.

Working on the grammar test

Just a moment to take a break from writing the test for GRAMMAR. It's hard to match the test material with what we've been doing in class, especially if one wants to depend on real, authentic texts. But only such tests are worthwhile, really. They show how much of the things we worked on have found their way into your English "production." So thank God for the Internet and Google. And... brace yourselves - it's growing!

Many people do not see any difference between test tasks and practice tasks. For practice, you want to focus on a particular grammar problem and do not have to worry too much about things like reliability and validity. Testing IS a challenge. BTW, do you have any experience of writing (i.e. creating) tests? Did you find it difficult? If you have something to say about this, or any other comments on your experience as a "test taker," write a post in your blog.

First year without HIM

The blog project is ripening, and I must say that it is very interesting for me, as your teacher. Only now can I get to know you a little better, and most of you turn out to be very interesting people. Your ideas, interests, things you like and want to share, all this is a great lesson to me. And I hope you can find out about each other many interesting things, too.

• A new task: please post at least one comment on somebody else's blog. Comments can sometimes turn into mini discussion forums, and that's what I like about them most.

ART

One of my favorite paintings -

Marc Chagall's Blue Violinist.

Pure poetry

Waiting for your blogs

This has been a hard week. I spent many hours in front of the screen to build various sites on the net for you. I hope that you will contribute the few minutes needed to build your blogs. If you need inspiration, click on the links on the right for blogs already running. For now I don't want to direct you in terms of content - write what you think may be interesting for the others (our recent grammar problem!), or what you feel like saying to us all. Share your experiences and reflections on your teaching practice (as Marta has), share links to sites which may be useful or just fun... Anything.

My first post

Here we are, beginning our class blog. The class is actually quite big: three student groups at the Teacher Training College, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. We need to learn how to work with a blog in ELT. And it's going to be LEARNING BY DOING. I hope we are all going to enjoy the experience.